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Monday, July 1, 2013

SOUTHERN IS (Not) A COLOR !

These days, it seems as though people try to make almost everything in life a black or white issue.It simply is not the case. Recently, I received a message in my Facebook message box which said :Ms Dorsey you post many folk life photos but I have yet to see you post any of Black Folk Life in Mississippi?????One of my first thoughts was: "You must have missed a whole lot of my posts/pictures."I posted a response on my page which included some of the following statements: EVERY
single thing that I post has something to do with some some aspect
of MY own life experiences. Many of my posts are pictures to go along
with poems from my books, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia : A Life
In Poems (MY Life..the life I know about ! ) and My Magnolia Memories
and Musings- In Poems (emphasis on MY)If I am not mistaken,.,and I don't think that I am..I do qualify as :Black Folk" LOL!!!If I don't qualify, my parents will be VERY disappointed !!! Please don't tell them !!!LOL!Most
of the pictures that I post are of southern scenes and scenery
...fields, landscapes, old buildings, barns, farm life, farm animals ,
front porches, ect. Those type of pictures are certainly not a black or white thing "They are a "southern thing".Southern is NOT a color.When I am posting, I am never thinking of reflecting or appealing to black or white..It never entered my mind to categorize the type of things that I post in terms of color.I
don't know if the roosters or the cows or pigs are supposed to be black
or white folk life pictures but they are what I know about my country
life upbringing.From all of the feedback that I receive, it seems, that a lot of people, both black and white had the very same upbringing .I post a goo gob of down-home , country style food pictures !!!I
really didn't know how obsessed I was/am with food until I started
reading my own poems! Almost every other one of them has something to do
with food!! LOL!!!I don't think of the food items that I post in terms of a black or white thing.Anyone should be able to see that it's a very Southern thing!And, I must repeat, Southern is NOT a color !Judging
from all of the requests that I get to repost so many of the food
recipes and pictures, it seems that a whole lot of people, both black
an white love the same kinds of food that I love to eat and grew up on.In general, I post a whole, whole lot about loving and the South.Is that a white folk thing or a black folk thing ??? No , it's a Southern thing !We LOVE our South. We love our "southern" !Southern is NOT a color !I
received so many positive responses from Facebook friends on that
initial post saying that one of the reasons that they love my posts is
because I don't make them into a black or white thing.Of course, I will continue doing just what I do ...Always, Always....Celebrating the South and things SouthernUntil Next Time.. Love, Peace...and Chicken Grease !

3 comments:

As a Southerner~born and bred~I appreciate that you represent the South and particularly the state of Mississippi as the positive, wholesome entities that they are. Your reflections mirror what others remember growing up which means that you represent a perspective that is not often presented in the media nor the world. I salute you and encourage you to continue doing what you do. Your poetry helps me share the MS I grew up with with my husband. He is from NY and has a really skewed view of our state. Until we visited my hometown a couple of years ago, he was literally afraid to visit MS. Now that he has visited, he is always excited about visiting. His comments about MS are always that the people are friendly, the food is delicious and it's always like "going home." Once again, thank you to a walking example of Southern Hospitality at its best!

*Mississippi*

Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum - Vicksburg MS

About Me

Mississippi Author and Poet Patricia Neely-Dorsey , is a
1982 graduate of Tupelo High School in Tupelo, MS. She received a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Psychology from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. She
is the author of two books of poetry, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-and
My Magnolia Memories and Musings.

She calls both books a celebration
of the south and things southern. Using childhood memories, personal thoughts and
dreams, the author attempts to give a positive glimpse into the southern way of
life.

Patricia currently lives in Tupelo
with her husband James, son Henry and Miniature Schnauzer ,
Happy.